Radiant Path
by Super Dragon
Summary: A mad king, a war torn country. a small resistance force is the only hope that remains to save Crimea, and at it's heart is nothing but a small band of mercenaries. Path of radiance near-novelization.
1. A New Mercenary

**Notice: For anyone interested, some friends and I are going live on the internet on July 7th through the 9th to have a speed run marathon of the Zelda, Mario, and Metroid game series. If you're interested, PM me for more information or visit triplespeedrunners (dot) com for more information.**

**This is my first Fire Emblem fic, but here is the first chapter. A near novelization. I say near because I will make some deviations (Extra battles maybe or something) and will eventually add my own character in at a later point in the story. This story will hopefully provide some decent character development for people that I feel were left out of the game too much. I hope to give enough development to all characters as much as I can, but don't expect everyone to have equal screen time here. Most chapters are going to alternate point of views. And uhh… read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**All Fire Emblem characters copyright Nintendo or whoever the lucky bastard is that owns this.**

CLANG! CLANK! WHOOSH! Up until now, the forest had been relatively quiet, only to be broken by two men who were dueling in the forest. The shorter one, Ike, had blue, spiky hair and a bandana wrapped around his hair. He had a somewhat even build, with armor on, despite the fact that he and the other man were dueling with wooden swords. The taller one, Greil, had short brown hair. He stood a fair bit taller than Ike, but was more muscular. Ike leapt back as his father, Greil, took another swing at him. Ike had been training with his father for years in order to become a full-fledged mercenary. Today was no exception. Training in full armor was something he had only recently begun doing. It was hard to move about well in armor, but he felt more and more like he was getting the hang of it.

Ike let out another cry as he swung his wooden sword, courtesy of Greil's whittling talent, down at his head, but the blow was easily blocked, and Ike was pushed back by Greil's far superior strength.

Day in and day out, Ike had been forced to stay behind as the other mercenaries went out to perform their jobs, whatever they may have involved. With Greil as the leader, they were always prepared and had never failed to finish a job. It was Ike's dream to be a part of it and to help them out, which was the whole reason he had been training with his father, even if his dad was a bit hard on him at times.

"Whoa!"

Ike fell over backwards in an attempt to avoid the sword Greil had just thrust mere inches from his face.

"Well Ike, you had enough?" Greil asked in an obvious taunting way. A faint hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, as if he already knew the answer.

'_Hardly' _Ike thought to himself. Quickly picking himself up off the ground, he rushed at his father with an overhead swing that was stopped short of its intended target by Greil.

"Dad! Ike! There you two are." came the voice of a young girl running down the dirt path. She was a fair bit shorter than Ike and Greil with brown hair running down almost to her shoulders.

"Ah, Mist."

"YAAAAAHHH!!!!"

Ike took advantage of his father's distraction to take another overhead swing at him, but he was surprised as he connected with only the ground after Greil side-stepped. However, he got an even bigger surprise as Greil took a powerful swing at Ike's now exposed backside, causing him to literally fly several feet.

"Ike!? Oh no!" Mist cried out as Ike failed to get up.

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_It was very comforting. He was enjoying a good rest with only her there to watch him. Sunlight streamed in the open window as he slowly sat himself up but everything was out of focus and dull. _

"_Mother…" _

"_You should rest. You've had a rough day."_

"_Mmmmm."_

_It was the old house that they had lived in before… before she had died. Why did she die? Ike wished he could go back to the way things were before that awful day. Not that he could remember that day, but his father had told him of the accident with the house fire. That was why they had had to move._

He heard something. It was faint, but it was definitely there. He couldn't identify the sound though.

_Mother had always sung this song for Ike and Mist as a lullaby It was a sweet melody. It had always been his favorite one. Ike laid down and closed his eyes before he felt himself drifting off into a deep sleep._

He heard it again. It was getting stronger. Someone was singing. A sweet soprano.

Ike suddenly woke up and snapped his eyes open but immediately regretted it when the sun seemingly shined right into his eyes. After his eyes adjusted, he picked himself off the ground, allowing the patch on his forehead to slide off. Probably Mist's doing.

"Oh! You're up. 'Bout time. Are you all right?" said Mist. Ike staggered to his feet, swaying a little as he did so. He briefly wondered how long he'd been out,

"Nn…Yeah, I'll be fine." Ike said. _'I hope' _he added as an afterthought. He turned around to see Greil, his father, running over to them.

"So, the sleeping prince finally awakens, I see." He said with a smile on his face.

"Father, I can't believe you! Those may just be wooden swords but they're still heavy! You have no right to be so rough on Ike!" Mist exclaimed. She knew Greil would never really hurt Ike…much. Even so, Ike had been out cold for the better half of three hours.

"If this is too much for the boy, he will never make it as a mercenary." Greil stated.

"Stop worrying Mist. I already told you that I'm fine." Ike said. There was no way he was going to let his father know how much that last blow actually hurt after the "boy" comment. In fact, his back was still hurting as he stood there, although it felt a little better.

"Ha! You'd better be! Now grab your sword and get ready." Rang the voice of the commander.

"What!? Don't tell me that you're going at it again!" Mist said with obvious disbelief.

"Of course. I just want to land one blow. I'm not giving up until I can get one good hit in on father." Ike said with a look of concentration on his face. Mist knew the expression too well. There was no talking sense Into him when he had that expression.

"I like your resolve, but it's going to take more than just a strong will to…" At that moment, a figure came running out of the trees, stopping just a few feet from them. He was about the same height as Ike, with green eyes and dark-green hair kept up with a cloth wrapped around his head. As with the other two men, he also wore armor.

"Aha! I knew I'd find you here." Said the green-haired man.

"Hi Boyd! What brings you out here?" asked Mist.

"Nothing special. You said you were going to get the boss, but you never came back. I got picked to check up on you."

"Oh! Sorry. I guess I got caught up with Ike and my Greil."

"It's nothing. Besides, I thought I'd get a good laugh watching Ike get worked over by the boss. You look fine though…haven't you been practicing?"

Ike hastily replied, "Yeah, but I've been holding my own. Sorry to disappoint you." Unfortunately, Mist picked the wrong time to speak.

"No you haven't! You were just out cold for about two hours!" Upon hearing this, Boyd was unable to control his laughter.

"Mist!"

"Sorry, but it was funny." Before Ike could go after Boyd, his father intervened.

"You came at just the right time, Boyd. You can be Ike's sparring partner."

"What!? Me!?" This announcement stopped Boyd's laughter.

"I'm beginning to think it would be better if he sparred with someone closer to his own skill level."

"I understand. Thanks for the help, Boyd" Ike quickly said before Boyd could protest. He was looking forward to a match with him after that last embarrassment.

"Well, I don't know about this whole 'closer to his skill level', but I'm ready!" He said, retrieving a wooden axe from the pile. Ike went over to retrieve the wooden sword he dropped after Greil knocked him out. The two fighters each took up a spot on each end of the training field and prepared for the fight.

"C'mon Ike! I'm ready for you!" Boyd called out. _'He can be annoying sometimes' _Ike thought, _'Actually, he's annoying almost all the time.'_ Greil then called for them to begin. Ike took the defensive because he had never gone up against Boyd. Then again, Boyd had never gone against Ike either, but he seemed content to simply wait for Ike, just as Ike was waiting for him.

"Hey! What's the hold-up!? Let's get started already!" Boyd yelled. He wasn't even standing in a fighting stance, but merely allowed his weapon, to hang at his side, showing off his confidence to everyone present.

'_That does it'_. Ike rushed at Boyd. Somewhere from the side, he heard his sister calling out, but payed her little mind. He was focused solely on Boyd and his grinning face.

"You can do it, Ike! Boyd's got nothing on you!" Mist called out.

"Nothing!? I don't have nothing! Err… I mean- AH!" Boyd shouted out the last line in a bit of pain. Ike had taken advantage of Boyd's moment of distractedness and closed the gap between them, putting a solid blow on his arm. The wooden swords weren't meant for killing or any serious wounds, but even still, Boyd was going to have one hell of a welt for letting his guard down. He wouldn't let it happen a second time though. He readied his axe and took a swing at Ike. The two crossed blades for a couple minutes. Neither one would allow the other one a chance to attack. Ike was clearly faster than Boyd, but Boyd had strength to his advantage, just as Greil had had, and he was using it to his advantage as he continued pounding away on Ike's sword. The force of the blows prevented Ike from effectively counter attacking.

This continued on until Ike saw his chance. Boyd took a powerful side swing, but this time the swing literally went into Ike's wooden sword, sticking the two together. Boyd tried in vain to pull his weapon free, but Ike instead punched Boyd in the face, causing him to reel back. Taking the two weapon hybrid in hand, Ike knocked Boyd onto the ground, and put the blade, it was difficult to tell whether it belonged to the axe or the sword at this point, to Boyd's throat.

"And that's that!" Greil called out from the sides.

"That wasn't too bad, I suppose." Boyd admitted, loathe to say that he had just been beaten by someone not even part of the mercenary group.

Mist couldn't help herself though. "Boyd, you're such a loser."

"Shut your trap! I wouldn't lose if we fought again!" Came the quick reply. '_Boyd always was one of the more temperamental mercenaries in the group. Actually, he's probably the most temperamental. On second thought, he definitely is.' _Ike thought privately to himself.

"No, that's enough Boyd." Greil replied.

"But that was just random chance! Come on, just let me go grab another axe and-" Without another word, Greil took to the field.

"That was decent enough swordsmanship Ike, and an interesting maneuver at the end. But now I'll be your next opponent."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Ike said. In truth, he really had been hoping. His father was possibly the strongest swordsmen he knew, so fighting against him was quite a challenge.

"Ha! Well, if I can't fight again, watching the boss work you over again is the next best thing!" Noyd called out as he walked off the field.

Greil stepped onto the other side. "But first, Mist!"

"Already on it!" Mist stepped out to Ike and handed him a vulnerary. Ike already knew what it was of course. This wasn't the first time he had used one. Vulneraries healed wounds. By drinking some of it, it magically closed wounds, healed bruises, and other things that Ike didn't know about, or have time to wonder about.

"Ready or not, here I come, Ike!" True to his word, Greil wasted no time crossing the field to Ike. It was amazing how fast he could move even in all the armor he wore. Ike quickly popped the top off the vulnerary and took a gulp. The effect was almost instantaneous. His bruises suddenly disappeared, leaving no trace of discomfort, and even his pain in his back courtesy of his dad was gone. Tossing the vulnerary aside since he didn't have time to store it away, Ike brought up his sword just in time to block the first of his father's attacks. The force was suspiciously weaker than what Ike remembered from only a short while ago, but still more than he could handle. He wouldn't win simply playing defensive. He waited for another swing from his father, but this time he put his weapon up as if to block, but instead allowed the weapon to go right through as he turned around and swung at Greil's now exposed side. Much to his side, it was a clean hit, and his father took a step backwards.

Not wanting to lose his advantage, Ike pressed the attack, and took swing after swing, dodging each attack Greil could muster, until finally he got a clean swipe at Greil's throat and held his sword there. It felt like eternity that he waited there with silence all around until Mist broke the silence.

"Woohoo! I knew you could do it Ike!" She rushed out onto the field to give Ike a congratulations before Ike interrupted her small celebration.

"You were holding back, weren't you father?" He stared into Greil's eyes and a smile broke on Greil's face.

"Ha! If you could tell the difference, you're improving!"

"So does that mean you admit I'm ready? Can I finally fight too?"

"You think you're ready to in a real fight? To take on a contract?" A rhetorical question, but Ike didn't pick up on that.

"Boyd's already out there, and I beat him today." Upon hearing this, Boyd rushed over to the group.

"Listen, the difference between you and me is that I'm a professional."

"A professional who just got beat!" Came Mist's quick reply.

"That was just random chance. Random chance. You understand that?"

"What, you fighting like a berserker is random chance?"

"You take that back you little-"

"Eek!" Mist ran around Ike and Greil with Boyd following close behind. Neither one seemed too worried about the chase. Indeed, it probably would've been stranger if Boyd had let the comment slide. It just wasn't like him to let things go, even if he wasn't being completely serious. Greil continued on.

"Alright. That's enough Boyd. Go on and tell everyone that we'll be behind shortly." Boyd gave Mist one last look to see her stick her tongue out at him. Ike sighed. It was always the same with those two, constantly teasing each other.

"Alright then Ike, as of tomorrow, you officially start as a full fledged mercenary."

"You mean it?"

"But, if I think it's too much for you, you're back to trainee status, you understand?" Ike knew he was completely serious about putting him back as a trainee.

"Yes. I'll pull my own weight, I promise."

"Good, then let's head back. Oscar should be finishing dinner soon, hopefully." Oscar was Boyd's older brother, but was almost opposite him. He was very calm, even under trying circumstances, and his cooking was the envy of everyone. Ike had other things on his mind however. Tomorrow he was finally going to become a mercenary, tomorrow he would finally be able to fight alongside everyone else. '_Tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day.'_

**Don't forget to review this!**


	2. The Perfect Role Model

**For clarification in case it wasn't already obvious, italics are what the person is thinking.**

**Don't forget to review! I appreciate knowing the story was read!**

Dawn broke, shining light through the window to Boyd's, Oscar's, and Rolf's room. They were all brothers, but no one would've guessed it if they weren't told outright. They had little in common at first glance. Unfortunately for Boyd, the light was positioned right in his face. Out of habit, he threw the covers up over his face. ' _Just a few more minutes.'_

Despite being what he called a "professional", he had a terrible habit of sleeping in, not that he cared all that much. Today was especially hard because he had stayed up late last night having another argument with Rolf, not an uncommon occurrence for them. He got up to close the curtains for a few more minutes of shuteye, several unknown objects cracking beneath his footsteps on the darkened floor. No doubt they were his. He was also a very untidy person, something that drove his older brother, Oscar, insane.

Closing the curtains, he returned to his bed. Despite the noise the mysterious floor objects were making beneath his footsteps, Rolf still remained asleep. Oscar was already up. Boyd and Rolf had been arguing about Ike being a better mercenary than Boyd. Boyd, of course, thought the very idea was a bunch of bologna and that Rolf was an idiot, while Rolf insisted that Ike was better and that Boyd was the idiot. It hadn't taken very long for the argument to devolve into name calling. _'Wait a minute, that's right! Today is Ike's first day as a mercenary! Oh shit, I forgot! As a veteran, I've got to be the perfect role model for him!' _

He threw up the covers and opened the curtains as fast as he had shut them. He threw on an extra change of clothes and dashed down the stairs of the wooden house, taking them two or three at a time. He landed with a loud crash at the bottom as he jumped the last few. _'Heh, if Rolf wasn't awake before, he sure is now.'_

He ran outside, allowing himself a breather. The mercenary fort, as it was called, wasn't exactly a fort. It consisted of four large buildings; an armory with a stable in the back, a miscellaneous building used mainly for recreation and meetings, a living quarter, and a mess hall. Truth be told, Boyd wouldn't have minded a couple ballistae and catapults…

Enough about that though. Boyd still needed to get ready. Heading for the armory, he stopped in surprise just short of it. Over at the meeting building, Boyd was shocked to see Ike standing outside of it. _'What the hell!? Did he really get up before me!?'_

No matter. Boyd could still save face here. Making sure Ike didn't see him, Boyd slipped into the armory. He quickly picked his usual armor up from the rack and threw it on , fiddling with all the straps. Outside, he could hear voices.

"Ike, today we have a request from the nearby village of Caldea to drive out some bandits that have recently been looting from there. According to our reports, they're not terribly strong, but don't let your guard down, they'll slice right through you if they get the chance. The group will consist of us, Oscar, and Boyd. Let's go get you a weapon." It was Titania. _'No no no!'_

Boyd was determined to be ready first. Finishing with all the straps, he quickly set about for his axe… and was surprised that he couldn't find it. _'I could've sworn I left it right here on the haystack…'_

A quick search of the surrounding area turned up nothing, much to his dismay. He overturned a number of haystacks in a vain attempt to locate his weapon. He normally left it next to his armor to make it easier for himself. He could've taken another one from the armory, but the Greil mercenaries were a rather poor group. It wasn't uncommon for them to take on low paying jobs and even jobs for free. This was one reason why the three brothers were still members. Greil wasn't a typical mercenary leader. He was hard, but a caring person, but since they were usually short on funds, they were short on weapons as a consequence. Boyd was hesitant to take a new one out of the armory if he still had his, but it was looking more and more like it had grown a pair of legs and walked out on its own. Outside, a third voice had joined Titania and Ike.

"Now that we've got you outfitted, let's go check on Boyd and Oscar." Titania said.

"I'm already here and ready to go, commander." It was Oscar. _'Crap! I need to be ready, now!'_

Forgetting all about the whole weapon shortage, Boyd dashed into the weapons room…

And there was his axe. Cleaned and polished from his last battle, but undoubtedly his axe. Boyd gave himself a mental kick. _'Of all the places to look, I didn't think to look in the one place my axe was __supposed__ to be.'_

He grabbed it off the wall and dashed outside, practically knocking the door off its hinges.

"Don't forget me! I'm ready too!" he shouted as he rounded the building to where Titania, Oscar, and Ike were. They were all ready to go. Titania and Oscar even had their respective horses all saddled and everything. Titania arched her eyebrows.

"Is that so, Boyd? That's a surprise." She said.

"Not today it isn't!" Boyd paused to catch his breath. "After all, I need to set an example and be the perfect role model for Ike!" An awkward silence descended on the group after Boyd's proclamation before Ike spoke.

"I'll… take your word for it." Boyd decided to ignore the sarcasm.

"Well, now that we're all ready, let's go kick some bandit butt!" Boyd turned and started taking the path out of the fort, the others in tow.

"Uh, Boyd?" It was Oscar. "You do realize that a number of your armor straps aren't even done, don't you?" Boyd turned his head to see that he had forgotten to do them in his haste.

"Nice role model, Boyd." Ike said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Ike." Boyd muttered, still wearing a grin. Caldea, as it turned out, wasn't far from the fort. It was only about a twenty minute ride. They arrived just over a half hour. Boyd's first impression was that no one in their right mind would even bother looting such a tiny village.

The village was at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and consisted of about ten small houses, and a larger building, presumably the town hall, located in the center of it all. It seemed unlikely that the village had much as far as supplies were concerned.

"Why would bandits be out here? There doesn't seem to be much out here." Ike said, seemingly reading Boyd's thoughts. Titania answered him.

"Perhaps that's why they decided to target here. The village would put up less of a fight for them. It doesn't matter in any case. Our objective remains the same. We need to drive off the bandits. Hmmmmm… Boyd and Oscar, I'd like you two to head around the village to the back. Ike and I will hit them from the front. Our reports say they aren't strong, but keep your guard up."

"Yes, deputy commander." Oscar answered.

""I will." Ike said. Boyd just flashed a grin and a thumbs up. Before Boyd and Oscar could move out, Oscar turned to Ike.

"Just remember Ike, you're not out there alone. Don't be afraid to rely on us." Ike nodded in silent acknowledgement. Boyd and Oscar moved along the outskirts of the village so as to avoid being seen.

"Heh, I knew she'd want him with her. She wants to make sure Ike stays safe." Boyd let out a laugh. He couldn't wait to tell Rolf that.

"And yet it wasn't that long ago that she was having you follow her around. Now it's me who has to keep an eye out for you. Watching you can be a chore sometimes." Oscar said with a small smile.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Boyd demanded.

"I'm just saying I remember one or two times you were so excited you broke your own axe." Oscar replied. Before Boyd could come up with a snappy retort, they saw Ike and Titania heading for the village, their cue to start.

In all fairness, the bandits never really saw it coming. Even if they had, the outcome would probably have been the same. Titania literally rode through the bandits, swinging her axe atop her steed. Whoever was left in her wake of destruction was picked off by Ike. Boyd was forced to admit as he saw Ike cross blades with another sword wielder that Ike had some skill, but he wasn't about to let Ike show him up. As a burly bandit approached him, he parried the bandit's blow, and brought his axe down atop the bandits head, his body crumpling to the ground immediately. Pulling his axe out, he swung it at the steps he heard behind him, catching a second off guard, who fell almost as fast as the first. Oscar rode by and made shish kebab of a third bandit who had been trying to sneak up on Boyd.

The four worked their way quickly towards the center of town, the remaining bandits becoming desperate.

"Damn villagers! You'll pay for hiring this mercenary scum!" A shout came from nearby. Before Boyd could question who it was, smoke rose from a nearby house. The bandit had set it on fire.

"Boyd!" Oscar shouted. He didn't need to be told twice. With his horse, Oscar was first there and occupied the bandits; there were apparently two of them. Boyd tried the door and found that it was locked, but a swift kick and a look inside showed him that no one was there to his relief. Luckily for him though, the fire hadn't spread beyond a single room and whoever lived here had buckets of water, presumably to bathe with, in the kitchen. Grabbing two at a time, he had the fire doused before it could cause any real damage He saw that he might've overdone it with the water, though. _'I hope the owner doesn't mind extremely wet furniture too much.' _He thought.

Upon returning outside, he was surprised to see that any bandit who wasn't dead had already fled the village. The fight was apparently over already. Titania rode over to check up on the brothers.

"Looks like all of the remaining bandits have fled. I don't think they'll be back here anytime soon. Good work everyone. The townspeople were all locked inside the town hall. I guess the bandits didn't want anyone in the way of their looting." Titania said. _'Well, that explains why no one was home.'_

Ike came over as Boyd finished this thought with what appeared to be the entire village in tow. One man, an older man who was already graying, stepped forward.

"On behalf of my village, thank you. Thank all of you for ridding us of those horrible bandits. I'm sorry, but the bandits made off with most of our money. This is all we have to offer you for your services." The old man held out a small bag of gold. No doubt it was even less than what had been initially offered for the contract, but the village couldn't help it.

"Thank you. We were happy to help." Titania answered. The four turned to leave and head back to the fort. They needed to report to commander Greil as soon as possible after all.

Okay, so I'll admit you didn't do too bad out there Ike. Still, it wasn't amazing as my first time though!" Boyd said. No way he was gonna admit that Ike's work had been impressive.

"Not too bad? Why, Ike here took out the enemy leader all by himself!" Titania said.

"Come to think of it, the first time you fought was one of the times you broke a new axe." Oscar said, more to himself, but everyone could hear him. At this Boyd turned red.

"You didn't have to bring that up, Oscar!" Boyd said. The four arrived back at the fort before sundown. Titania, after finishing with her horse and gear, immediately went to commander Greil to report the result of the mission. Oscar went off to the mess hall to make some dinner for everyone. When he was away on a mission, Mist was usually the one to cook. While Boyd wouldn't say it to her face, she was a terrible cook compared to Oscar. Of course, everyone seemed terrible compared to Oscar. He was an amazing chef. Unfortunately, he would have to wait for the food. Searching for a hammock, he tossed his axe down on the ground. He would worry about it later. Right now he just wanted some rest. Laying in the hammock, he closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.


	3. Mad King Ashnard

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I felt it necessary to add this into the story. Next chapter will be standard length, I promise. Read and review please.**

He hurried through the seemingly endless corridors, his footsteps echoing off of the aged stone. Bryce had great need to rush. His king had summoned him to check on all forces in the capitol and then report back. Any men who weren't on active duty were prepared to be at a moment's notice, which was good for them. Bryce was an extremely punctual man, if nothing else, especially when an order came from his king. In this case, it was Ashnard.

King Ashnard was relatively new to the throne, having only been crowned a couple years ago at the untimely passing of his father, the previous king. On top of that, all the other heirs to the throne died as well, leaving only Ashnard to be crowned. This fact alone caused many rumors to start flying about his ascension. Already he was widely known as Mad King Ashnard…

…and since Bryce was a dutiful knight, above such things as rumors, he ignored them. His duty was to the throne of Daein, regardless of who held the position. He had served the last king faithfully, and he would serve Ashnard faithfully. He reached a set of stairs and sped up them as fast as he could in full armor.

Another turn and he found himself on the floor just before the throne room. The place was unusually quiet, despite the large number of servants hired to keep the place tidy. Bryce wasn't one for superstition, but if any place could give him the creeps, it was here in the Daein capitol of Nevassa. Or more specifically, the Daein palace.

He stored these thoughts away as he opened the doors to the throne room. The king stood in the center, staring at nothing in particular. He was a rather tall person even compared to Bryce, which was not an easy feat, with a muscular build to match.

"Your majesty, all men are at the ready." Bryce said tentatively as he kneeled. When he said all men, it was not much of an exaggeration. The king had ordered just about the whole of the Daein army to be mobilized, minus the forces at the capitol. Bryce was still unsure of the king's reason, but he knew as a knight it wasn't his place to question his king.

"Good, good." Ashnard said, his voice surprisingly calm despite his moniker. He turned to face Bryce.

"Tell all the men to mobilize and move out. We will march onto Crimea first thing tomorrow."

"Your majesty?!" To say Bryce was shocked would be an understatement. The king's calm demeanor had almost given Bryce the impression that he was joking, but Ashnard didn't joke. He never did.

"I said to mobilize all the men and begin a march on Crimea tomorrow." The king repeated.

"Yes sir, but if I may, why?" Following a superior was one thing, but Bryce could see absolutely no reason why they would want to march on Crimea. The only one he could think of was because Crimea allied itself with Gallia, a nation just to Crimea's south. _'A nation of sub-humans.'_

The king, however, ignored the question. Instead he turned around and began to walk out of the room.

"First thing tomorrow, Bryce. Don't disappoint me." A heavy sigh escaped Bryce's lips. He had already taken an oath to protect the king with all his power. If that meant cutting down a hundred people, then so be it. _'To war it is, then.' _He thought. He grimaced and sighed internally.


End file.
